CLOSURE CLEANUP REQUIREMENTS

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

The Cleanup Requirements of the Proposed 1995 Base Closures

 The Pentagon's new list of proposed major base closures 
includes nine "Superfund" sites and numerous other seriously 
contaminated properties. Cleaning up those facilities, according to 
the Defense Department's most recently released figures, should cost 
more than $900 million.

 Yet this week, even before the ink is dry on the closure list, 
the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee is considering a $150 
million rescission in fiscal year 1995 cleanup funds. Even if that cut, 
already approved by the House of Representatives, is taken from the 
Defense Environmental Restoration Account (DERA) - not Base 
Realignment and Closure Accounts - it could seriously hamper 
cleanup efforts at these bases. Environmental cleanup at all but two 
of the facilities - Bergstrom Air Reserve Base and the Rome Air 
Development Laboratory, which are located on already closing bases 
- will be funded through DERA in 1995 and 1996, even if they close.

 The actual cost of cleaning up the 1995 round of closures is 
likely to be much higher, for four reasons:

1. Many of the proposed realignments are in essence partial 
closures.

2. Some "minor" bases proposed for closure or realignment, 
such at Ft. Hunter-Liggett in California, are vast in size, though 
small in employment.

3. Low priority locations, including most of the facilities not on 
the "Superfund" list, have not carried out the studies required to 
develop projections of long-term cleanup expenses.

4. Short-term cuts in the cleanup budget will drive up long-term 
costs by allowing contaminants to spread.

(Note: The term "Superfund" refers to facilities listed on the U.S. 
EPA's National Priorities List of properties posing the greatest threat 
to human health and the environment. For all military bases, cleanup 
funding comes from the Defense budget, not EPA's "Superfund." 
Major portions of Griffiss Air Force Base, location of the Rome 
Laboratory, were approved for closure in 1993, but Rome is counted 
here as a Superfund site in the current closure round.)

Prepared by Lenny Siegel of SFSU CAREER/PRO and the Pacific 
Studies Center, Feb. 28, 1995.
For more information, call 415/961-8918 or 415/969-1545.

MAJOR BASE CLOSURES
Proposed by the Defense Department, February, 1995
Known Environmental Restoration Requirements

Contaminated Facilities # Toxic Sites # Cleaned Up 
 $ Thru FY 93 $ FY 94-Completion Total $ Amount

NPL-Adak Naval Air Facility, AK 72 3 16,517,000
 22,849,000 39,366,000
Bayonne Military Ocean Terminal (Army), NJ 36 4
 440,000 0 440,000
Bergstrom Air Reserve Base*, TX 9 3 8,040,000
 32,400,000 40,440,000
Brooks Air Force Base, TX 3 2 1,400,000 641,000
 2,041,000
Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, CO 25 0 0
 700,000 700,000
Fort Chaffee (Army), AR 5 13 141,000 690,000
 831,000
Fort Indiantown Gap (Army), PA 2 1 70,000
 7,600,000 7,670,000
Fort McClellan (Army), AL 43 1 2,469,000
 16,450,000 18,919,000
Fort Pickett (Army), VA not listed in Defense Environmental 
Cleanup Program annual report
Fort Ritchie (Army), MD response complete
Guam Naval Ship Repair Facility, GU 2 0
 6,191,000 12,058,000 18,249,000
Indianapolis Naval Air Warfare Center, IN response complete
NPL-Lakehurst Naval Air Warfare Center, NJ 13 0
 19,394,000 25,467,000 44,861,000
Long Beach Naval Shipyard, CA 6 0 1,817,000
 22,400,000 24,217,000
Louisville Naval Surface Warfare Center, KY 1 0
 646,000 4,281,000 4,927,000
NPL-Memphis Defense Dist. Depot (DLA), TN 40 0
 7,239,000 58,436,000 65,675,000
Meridian Naval Air Station, MS 7 0 1,110,000
 13,341,000 14,451,000
North Highlands Air Guard Station, CA 2 0 225,000
 1,327,000 1,552,000
NPL-Ogden Defense Distrib. Depot (DLA), UT 17 2
 19,615,000 36,030,000 55,645,000
Ontario Airport Air Guard Station, CA 3 0 430,000
 800,000 1,230,000
Pittsburg International Airport Air Reserve Ctr.**, PA 2 0
 816,000 2,154,000 2,970,000
Price Support Center (Army), IL response complete
Red River Army Depot, TX 22 0 2,892,000
 3,354,000 6,246,000
Reese Air Force Base, TX 3 4 14,813,000
 79,084,000 93,897,000
NPL-Rome Laboratory (Griffiss AFB)***, NY 45 1
 31,519,000 73,737,000 105,256,000
Roslyn Air Guard Station, NY 5 0 626,000
 1,726,000 2,352,000
NPL-Savanna Army Depot Activity, IL 62 1
 24,327,000 99,185,000 123,512,000
Selfridge Army Garrison****, MI 13 6 no funding 
requirements developed yet
NPL-Seneca Army Depot, NY 44 0 13,730,000
 174,996,000 188,726,000
NPL-South Weymouth Naval Air Station, MA 9 0
 1,133,000 5,175,000 6,308,000
Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport (AF), OH 5 0
 1,240,000 5,200,000 6,440,000
NPL-Warminster Naval Air Warfare Ctr., PA 8 1
 2,197,000 8,334,000 10,531,000
White Oak Naval Surface Weapons Center, MD 7 0
 5,446,000 18,474,000 23,920,000

TOTAL 511 32 184,483,000 726,889,000
 911,372,000

Source: Defense Environmental Cleanup Program Annual Report, 
March 31, 1994
NPL denotes bases currently on the "Superfund" National Priorities 
List (NPL). 
*Bergstrom Air Reserve Base sits on the site of Bergstrom Air Force 
Base, approved for closure in 1991. The cleanup figures here are for 
the entire Bergstrom base.
**The Pittsburgh Airport Air Guard Station is listed separately.
***Griffiss Air Force Base was approved for closure in 1993, but its 
major tenant, the Rome Air Development Laboratory, was spared. 
The cleanup figures here are for Griffiss.
****The only listing for the Army in Selfridge is the Tank-
Automotive Support Activity.
DLA = Defense Logistics Agency